User Accounts, Passwords & MFA

Requirements for New Passwords:

• Length: Passwords must be between 13 and 32 characters long.

• Complexity: Passwords must:

  • Contain no part of your username.

  • Have fewer than 3 consecutive repeating characters (e.g., "111", "AAAA", "JJJJJJ").

  • Include at least one uppercase letter.

  • Include at least one lowercase letter.

  • Include at least one number.

  • Include at least one of the following special characters: ! $ # % ^ * - ( ) [ ]  

  • Avoid common sequences and prohibited words (e.g., "Southwestern", "Password", "Pirate", "Georgetown", "Captain", "1840").

  • Can’t be one of your last 5 passwords

• Prevention of Unauthorized Access: Strong, unique passwords or passphrases are essential to preventing unauthorized access to your account.

• Protection of Sensitive Information: Your account may contain sensitive personal or financial information. Strong passwords help safeguard this information.

Additional Security Tips:

• Avoid Sharing Passwords: Never share your password with anyone.

• Use Unique Passwords: Create unique passwords for each account to minimize the risk of compromise.

Go to aka.ms/sspr to reset your password. This method is only available if you've registered a secondary email address and as such, is not available to newly created accounts that have not been logged into yet.

We highly recommend setting up a backup email for password self-reset. It never fails that you will get locked out of your account after hours, during finals or on the weekends when there is no one at the Tech Deck to help reset a forgotten password!

Yes! In fact, we have Keeper available for all faculty and staff. Click here to get your account set up.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is required on your SU account. You will be prompted to set it up on your first login. You have a couple of choices of how to set it up:

• Use an Authenticator app such as Microsoft Authenticator. 

• Register your phone number and get a code sent to your phone via text message on each login

• Use a USB security key

The recommended method is to use both Microsoft Authenticator AND to register your phone number as a backup method.

Find instructions on setting up the MFA here.

While Google Takeout allows you to download your data, directly transferring everything from one Google account to another using only Takeout isn't a seamless one-step process. Here's a breakdown of the methods and instructions:

Method 1: Using Google Takeout Transfer (Limited Scope)

Google offers a specific "Transfer your content" feature within Google Takeout, but it has limitations:

• What it transfers: Primarily designed for transferring Gmail (all emails) and Google Drive (only files you own) content.

• What it doesn't transfer: Other Google services like YouTube history, Google Photos albums (use Partner Sharing for Photos), shared files in Drive, and Google Shared Drives.

• Steps:

1. Go to Google Takeout Transfer and sign in to the source Google account.

2. Enter the email address of your destination Google account.

3. Click Send Code.

4. Using another browser or an Incognito window, go to your destination Google account and find the verification email from Google. Click Get confirmation code and copy the code.

5. Go back to the Google Takeout Transfer page on your source account, paste the code, and click Verify.

6. Toggle the content you want to copy (Drive and/or Gmail). You can't select specific folders or labels with this method.

7. Click Start Transfer.

8. The transfer will begin. It can take several hours or even a few days, depending on the amount of data. You cannot stop the transfer once it starts.

9. Once complete, you'll receive an email in your destination account.

Method 2: Download and Upload via Google Takeout (More Comprehensive but Manual)

This method involves downloading your data from the source account using Google Takeout and then manually uploading it to the destination account.

• Steps (Downloading from the Source Account):

1. Go to Google Takeout.

2. Select the Google services you want to transfer data from (e.g., Mail, Drive, Photos, Calendar, Contacts, YouTube, etc.). You can click "Deselect all" and then choose the specific services.

3. For each service, you might have options to customize what data is included (e.g., specific Mail labels, Drive folders).

4. Click Next step.

5. Choose your Delivery method (e.g., "Send download link via email," "Add to Drive," "Add to Dropbox," "Add to OneDrive," "Add to Box"). Downloading to your computer is common.

6. Select the Export type (one-time export or scheduled exports).

7. Choose the File type (.zip is usually recommended) and Archive size (smaller sizes will result in multiple files).

8. Click Create export.

9. Google will start preparing your archive(s). This can take anywhere from minutes to days, depending on the amount of data. You'll receive an email with a download link (or the files will appear in your chosen delivery method) when it's ready.

10. Download all the archive files to your computer.

• Steps (Uploading to the Destination Account):

1. Sign in to your destination Google account.

2. Go to the respective Google services (e.g., Gmail, Google Drive, Google Photos, Google Calendar, Google Contacts).

3. Gmail: Depending on your email client (like Thunderbird), you might be able to import .mbox files (which Takeout can create). For Gmail's web interface, there isn't a direct import for all emails at once. You might need to forward emails or use a third-party tool.

4. Google Drive: Unzip the downloaded Drive files and folders and upload them to your new Google Drive using the "New" button (plus icon) and selecting "File upload" or "Folder upload." Note that shared files will not be included in the Takeout; you'll need to ask the owner to share them with your new account.

5. Google Photos: Unzip the downloaded Photos and upload them to your new Google Photos account using the "Upload" button. Be aware that metadata might be in separate .json files.

6. Google Calendar: Takeout usually provides calendar data in .ics format, which you can import into your new Google Calendar.

7. Google Contacts: Takeout usually provides contacts in .vcf or .csv format, which you can import into your new Google Contacts.

8. YouTube: Your watch history and subscriptions are generally tied to the account. There isn't a direct import. You might need to manually resubscribe to channels.

9. Continue this process for all the Google services you downloaded data from.

Important Considerations and Limitations:

• Shared Files: Google Takeout does not export files that have been shared with you in Google Drive or photos shared with you in Google Photos. You'll need to manually ask the owners to share these with your new account.

• File Ownership: When you upload files to the new account, you become the owner. Sharing permissions from the original account will not be transferred.

• Google Formats: Files in native Google formats (Docs, Sheets, Slides) might be converted to other formats (like .docx, .xlsx, .pptx) during the Takeout process.

• Storage: Ensure your destination account has enough storage space for all the data you're transferring.

• Time: The download and upload process can take a significant amount of time, especially for large amounts of data.

• Potential for Duplicates: If transfers are interrupted or you retry multiple times, you might end up with duplicate files in your new account.

• No Direct Merge: Google doesn't offer a feature to directly merge the data between two accounts.

In summary, while Google Takeout is essential for getting your data out of one account, moving everything to another requires a combination of using the "Transfer your content" feature (for Gmail and owned Drive files) and manually downloading and uploading data for other services. Be prepared for a potentially time-consuming process, especially if you have a lot of data.